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The final presentation did pull it all together and get me to review many different pieces. Going back and recreating a new audio file was particularly helpful – how fast we forget! That Audacity program is really cool. PowerPoint was fluky with inserting the audio and video. Sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn’t. Somewhat frustrating, but I just kept playing around with different files and file types until I got what I wanted. One wav file I had just wouldn’t play at all. I hope the navigation is what you were looking for – never having worked with non-linear presentations before I wasn’t sure what you think is standard navigation, and feedback on the group project would have helped assure we were on the right track. The Multiple Intelligences readings were very interesting and useful. I’m glad to know more about the subject and think it offers an opportunity to vary teaching techniques. I think we all tend to teach to our own MI strengths out of habit and comfort and continually reviewing the various MIs helps me structure more variety to my lesson plans. I found it interesting that so many classmates continued to view presentations as something they would have a student projects instead of as a way to provide better teaching. The readings on the value of multimedia learning were some of the best resources. I think the resources that Lesley classes use are truly excellent and I learn a lot from them. The care with which they are selected assures me that my time is well spent. And the discipline that the course provides forces to me to read materials I would bypass or set aside with good intentions of reading later. My favorite things in the class were playing with the audio tool and playing with the new multimedia program. I hadn’t worked with an audio tool before and found it helpful to learn to rip from CDs and how easy it was to record sound. I had always searched for sound files when it really would be easier to make my own sometimes – especially if I can’t find just what I want. I liked that eZedia program, although I’m not sure I’ll buy it now (I’m a cheapskate and there’s lots of other things higher on the list), but it was interesting to play with. I would have liked to use it for the final project, probably more than PowerPoint. Creating a non-linear presentation was better in that tool, and I think PowerPoint’s buttons are really, really ugly. I think the storyboarding information was helpful but it doesn’t feel right to me to work on paper and I think students would feel the same way. I would prefer to have computer templates to work on. I like doing design work especially on a computer – you can move things around easily until you get it how you like it which is quite clumsy on paper. I don’t have good ideas here but would like to see something like Inspiration or Visio or some kind of drawing tool template. I had done storyboarding many years ago in a film class and see and know the value of it but there’s got to be a better way. The Copyright and Fair Use information and discussion was very interesting. This is becoming an issue for many teachers and schools (and kids). They seem to understand Copyright in relation to software and music, but think that everything else falls under Fair Use. We have a long way to go, and education colleges should do a better job teaching this. Good job Lesley. Another part of the class I liked a lot was seeing the glef.org (Live and Learn) videos and Thornburg audio files. I believe it’s imperative for teachers to experience learning with multimedia before they will truly understand how valuable it can be to teach with it. The more exposure the better and we’re all still learning better ways. I told my boss on Friday that each time I embark on a Lesley course, I think I know a lot about the topic, but am truly amazed by how much I learn. This course far exceeded my expectations and I think the many different areas that it touches will be used by teachers in all aspects of their teaching.
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